A total of four area cross country teams competed at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday morning and afternoon in the 2012 Michigan High School Athletic Association Cross Country State Championships.

In the Division 2 boys meet, the Bulldogs of Ionia finished 10th with a score of 307. State champion St. Clair finished with a total of 114, followed by Linden (128), St. Joseph (153), Cedar Springs (201), Mason (242), Chelsea (244), Richland Gull Lake, Grand Rapids Christian (271) and Otsego (283).

"You have to be perfect at all five spots to win any year at the state meet," Ionia coach Chris Young said. "When one realizes that over 150 schools start the year all looking to win the state title, it becomes apparent that making the top 24 teams is in itself an accomplishment."

Seniors Brice Brown and Brandon Winter picked up All-State honors for the Bulldogs. Winter finished 11th with a time of 15:40 while Brown took 17th with a run of 15:52.

Araceli Leon was Ionia's lone representative in the D2 girls race, finishing 72nd with a time of 19:41.

"To put things into perspective, four years ago if you ran in the low 19s you would be named All-State," Young said. "On Saturday, 104 girls broke into the 19s with the last All-State time was 18:46 in 30th place.

"Our record is 18:40, which is a great time. The point is the girls are getting faster every year as their training increases and the number of girls going out for Cross Country and Track grows."

Division 3

The Saranac Redskin men finished 12th with a score of 338 on Saturday in the Division 3 boys race, with Tim Young leading the way with a 12th-place finish with a time of 16:10 to earn All-State honors.

Jackson Lumen Christi won the state title with a score of 129

Brendan Klynstra finished 59th with a time of 17:13, while Steven Jorgensen took 68th with a run of 17:24. Branden Smith took 80th with a time of 17:35 and Aaron Sluiter took 120th with a run of 18:01 to round out the scoring for the Redskins.

Coming off a regional-championship win, the Pewamo-Westphalia men finished third in the Division 4 state meet.

"The boys have been chasing the dream of getting on the State Finals podium as a team for the last three years and we came ever so close on Saturday," P-W coach Scot Werner said. "These kids poured their heart into this and our top five runners finished with a team average of 16:52. It was outstanding.

"This is far and away the fastest team average in our school history and this team effort would have won the MHSAA State Championship on 7 different occasions over the last 12 years."

Page 2 of 2 - Tanner Droste led the Pirates with a 10th-place finish, out of 245 runners, and a time of 16:21, while Greg Trierweiler finished in 29th with a run of 16:38. Both runners earned All-State honors.